Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
